bIrThDaY

I had a good birthday! Ben had fixed up the child carrier thing to go on the back of my bike. So we took a family bike ride into town in the afternoon. Then in the evening, we went over to Mom and Dad's for Alyssa and I's birthday celebration. We had a meal of appetizers...and yes, it was MORE than enough food to eat (imagine that with Mom feeding us). We played bocce ball, and the kids played kick ball with Grandma and Grandpa. Complete with fruit pizza for dessert!! Thank you for a good birthday :) 

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALYSSA ON THE 9TH!

His favorite part of the day, was blowing out my candle.....he LOVES candles lately.

Check out Alyssa's crazy bocce ball throw! She looks like a super long, stretchy person!!

 

 Waiting to see who was closer...red or green..probably green.

the list

Since we've moved in, there has been an ongoing mental list of "what's next".

Lately, there has been several of these projects checked off...I'm grateful for my handy "men". Ben has an odd liking to digging, which has also helped with many of these projects!

Drain trench off the house, extends the gutter drain into the yard (it is now covered, don't worry)

Clothes line...a highlight for me!

New bathroom cabinet/shelves. The old ones simply HAD to go...one word for those, "Orville".

I think this next project has been my favorite so far to see complete. I didn't realize just how much I would like it...I was impressed.

Here's our driveway before... 

After removing the rotten railroad ties, digging MANY holes, and putting up the fencing... this an idea of the finished look. We still need to get railroad ties to line the sides and a load of gravel to complete it.

 This project was probably Christian's favorite...both for the helping process and the finished swing!

And last but not least of the recent projects...the compost pile. 

It is on the left, the thing that looks a bit like a corral. It has fencing around it now. Ben knows more about the actual composting process than I..so he can better explain the design of his work.

Christian and I were picking mulberries..we later found out, its probably easier to just lay a tarp or something down, and the tree does all the work by dropping the ripe mulberries. Whew. They are messy. They're not my favorite berry, but I did make a cobbler and it wasn't too bad. 

I'm sure there'll be more projects to come...

three years

Three years ago, Ben and I had one of the most memorable days of our lives (right up there with the day Christian was born). Our wedding was just a happy day. I remember thinking after it POURED rain for the first half of the day...regardless of where the wedding is held, we'll be married today!! However, I was glad we could have the outside wedding...it was just a good day.

Now, here we are, living just 2 miles down the road from we were married, with a almost 2 year old boy. It's kind of ironic to think of, because you just don't know where and when God will do things in your life. It is fitting to the verse we had at our wedding...

"For I know the PLANS I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE." Jeremiah 29:11

I felt overwhelmingly blessed on our wedding day....and still do!

SO...here we are 3 years later to the day. Tornado warnings are out all around, but we decided to celebrate anyway. We went to Wichita, out to a movie and to supper. It wasn't probably the popular thing to do...we were the only ones in the movie! We've never experienced that, so we had to take a few pictures while we waited for the movie to start.

It was a fun night. We didn't get blown away by a tornado (which I know is not funny with all the damage that has been done around the midwest). I hope we have many more anniversaries to celebrate together!!

Steph's baby shower

Baby Shower for Baby Girl Yoder!

My dear friend Stephanie Yoder is going to have a baby girl!!

I met Steph at Hesston College, she was a year older in the nursing program and lived across the hall from me. Needless to say, she was my "mama steph" and I asked lots of questions. 

She is married to my good friend Justin..and they live in Hesston..and very soon she will be a mommy!

Sonia and Kira helped me have the shower for Steph. We look forward to meeting this little girlie!

(I took LOTS of pictures...but not with my camera..so I might have to ask Steph for some of the shots I took)

mothers day

I really love being a mama.

Christian has filled my heart with joy from the day he was born.

I felt special and loved this mother's day. Ben made me a BIG breakfast (it was quite thoughtful..I couldn't manage to eat most of it, but it was very nice) and he gave me a mother's day/birthday gift which I have been enjoying daily. It's called a Squeezebox..a form of radio/internet radio, that's portable. I love having music in the background while I'm in the kitchen or in my "craft" room.

After church we went to John and Chris' (Ben's uncle and aunt in Inman) for dinner.

 They have such a pretty place..and always good food!

Christian wasn't all about taking pictures..but here are a few attempts nevertheless.

    

We came home, laid Christian down for a nap..and I enjoyed being outside! I even went for a run, and Mom met me with the 4-wheeler. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. Mitch was in VA visiting Carissa. So the rest of us enjoyed the afternoon and supper celebrating with MOM!

I really love my MOM.

Garden [beans]

We planted a garden in our back yard.

The week that Ben's parents came to help with the egress windows, Diana helped transplant alot of flowers that had been randomly growing around the house. The peonies we put at the end of the rows as markers...and they are doing quite well, almost ready to bloom. There is a row of day lilies along side the east side of the garden..and I'm not really sure the rest of the flowers are. I am glad she did it..that was a very miserable week for me..and she knows what she's doing when it comes to that!

We also had tore out the bush/viney thing..I think it was a gooseberry bush. Either way, the thing was gnarly!

  

Its kinda fun to have a decent size garden..

So far we've planted, tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, potatoes, carrots, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, and beans.

I had a little helper who "helped" plant beans. He struggled with the concept of placing ONE bean in the row..so he put about 10 in a pile, and asked for "Mo" (more).

He loves to help! Now when I ask if we should go check on the garden, he just says "beans".

Animals

 We've made a trip to Tanganyika and the zoo... any of the animals that are close enough to touch, Christian tries to kiss them...including the camel. 

Christian and Liam  (our "old" neighbor friend)..at least we got to go to the zoo together!